Coffee Mornings
by EmyPink
Summary: Timothy McGee is in Cardiff, Wales for a special event and happens upon a certain Japanese computer genius. NCIS/Torchwood crossover.


**Coffee Mornings **

By EmyPink

**Disclaimer**: Torchwood and NCIS are not mine; I've just borrowed them

**Rating:** K+

**Parings:** Tim/Tosh

**Genres:** Gen, Romance, Fluff

**Warnings:** Set pre-Judgement Day for NCIS and pre-Exit Wounds for Torchwood

**Summary:** Timothy McGee is in Cardiff, Wales for a special event and happens upon a certain Japanese computer genius.

**A/N** Boy, I am in love with NCIS/Torchwood crossovers, and Tim/Tosh is something that I recently have started to love. It's fun. Hope you enjoy.

* * *

Tim grinned to himself as he breathed the early morning Cardiff air. He had finally managed to get away from NCIS for a week, and had arrived yesterday, one day ahead of the comic book convention he was attending. How Tim had convinced Gibbs and Director for some leave, he'll never know, but he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. A week without Tony's jibes, murder victims or electronic trails sounded like heaven to him.

Unfortunately, Tim's thoughts about how nice it was to be away from DC, and in another country for that matter, were interrupted as he felt himself collide with a figure that seemed to have come out of nowhere.

Tim stood still for a second, stunned by the impact. But then he noticed the young Japanese women he'd run into and groaned. Her carefully carried coffee was now lying abandoned on the cement footpath.

"Oh," Tim managed to say, once he'd found his voice. He blushed profusely. "I am so, so sorry. I-I must have been distracted." He gave her an anxious look.

"It's fine, honestly." She looked a little flustered, but offered Tim a reassuring smile. "Seriously, don't worry about it."

"I . . ." Tim was at a loss as to what to say next. It wasn't every day he ran into a pretty woman and destroyed her coffee. "I . . ." he tried again and faltered. "I . . ." Tim ran a hand through his hair. "Sorry."

"You've already said that," she said. "And it's okay, really."

"But . . ."

"It was an accident. Accidents happen. No big deal," she reassured him. She picked the fallen coffee cup up off the ground. "At least it was me and not one of my co-workers. I think they might have killed you." She smiled shyly.

"Sounds scarily like my co-workers." Tim returned the smile, hesitantly. "Look, I really am . . ."

"Sorry, I know."

"Oh," Tim muttered and blushed. He gulped and then said, "At least, you know, let me buy you another one. After all I did spilt-spill your cup . . . coffee cup." He groaned to himself. Why did he have to get so tongue tied around beautiful women? Couldn't he be more like, say, Tony?

"Oh, that's not necessary," she smiled softly, blinking from behind her fringe that had fallen across her face.

"No, really," Tim murmured. "I feel so bad about spilling your coffee. It's the least I can do."

The Japanese woman glanced at her watch anxiously. She stared at it for a moment, and then smiled. "Sure, why not," she replied in her lilting English accent. "I have a little time before I'm due back at work, baring end of the world disasters that is," she grinned, and a little part of Tim wondered if she really was joking.

She stuck out her hand. "Toshiko Sato. American, right?"

"Timothy McGee," Tim mirrored her introduction and shook her hand, lingering for a moment longer than necessary. "Yes, American. From Washington DC." Toshiko looked intrigued, but said nothing.

The two stood in awkward silence before Tim mumbled, "Uh, I, do you, ah, know a good coffee shop." He smiled at Toshiko weakly. "I'm, err, on holidays."

"I kinda guessed," Toshiko replied and gestured shyly. "Come on, I'll show you one of my favourites."

Tim looked relieved that Toshiko had somewhat taken charge of the situation and smiled gratefully. "Cool . . . I mean that would be nice." He cursed himself for sounding like a love-struck teenager.

"Good." Toshiko looked at Tim as she brushed her fringe out of her face. "It's gonna get busy soon, so . . ."

"Right, yes, let's go," Tim answered, flustered. He gestured in front of him. "After you."

Toshiko gave him a genuine smile and motioned for Tim to follow as she disappeared into the rapidly growing crowd of commuters on their way to work.

* * *

"So, Timothy, what brings you to Cardiff?" Toshiko asked as she pushed open the door to her local coffee shop. It chimed. Luckily for the pair, it wasn't too busy.

"Tim."

"Huh?" Toshiko looked confused and a little bewildered. She turned to him.

"Oh, uh, Tim. You can call me Tim," he clarified, and then added hurriedly, "if you want, that is." He diverted his eyes and looked to the ground.

"Tim, I like that," Toshiko replied after a moment, giving him a shy smile. "It's nice."

"Yeah, it is, I guess," Tim said as he joined the end of the short queue. "What was it?"

"What was what?" For the second time in mere minutes, Toshiko looked confused.

"Uh, your coffee, what was it . . . um, what flavour . . . type?" Tim laughed nervously and blushed.

"Oh," Toshiko replied. "It was mocha, extra cream."

"Cool." And Tim groaned again at the use of 'cool'. "Uh, great. Sounds . . . nice." They fell into an awkward silence again and Tim breathed a sigh of relief as the last person in front of them left and it was finally their turn.

Tim and Toshiko shuffled forward, and stopped in front of the counter as Tim told the girl at the counter, "One mocha with extra cream and . . ." Tim quickly glanced at the menu. "And an espresso, please."

The counter girl smiled. "Coming right up, love." She turned and yelled their order to the barista. "It'll be five eighty." Tim handed her the money and then she turned her attention to the next customer, so Tim and Toshiko moved to one side.

More silence.

Finally, Toshiko broke it by saying, "You never did tell me why you're in Cardiff, Tim."

Tim looked away, embarrassed. "It's kinda silly, really," he mumbled, blushing for the umpteenth time.

"Try me." She looked at him brightly. "I'm sure it's not as silly as you think."

"I, uh, it's, um, a kinda convention thing," Tim muttered, turning a brighter shade of red_. If only Tony could see me now_, he laughed bitterly. Could he be any more obvious about his geek status?

"What kind of convention thing?" Toshiko asked, a ghost of a smile on her face.

"Ah . . ." Tim was saved by the bell, or should that be coffee, as their orders were slid across the counter. Tim picked them up and passed Toshiko's mocha to her.

"Thank you," she said sincerely. "Not everyone would be as nice as you and replace it."

Tim shrugged as they moved outside and found a little table sparkling in the sunlight. "My parents raised me to take responsibility."

"Well, I think they did lovely job," Toshiko replied, and then looked away in slight embarrassment.

Tim didn't know how to reply, so he responded with a simple, "Thank you." As he did so, Tim unconsciously pulled out Toshiko's chair for her and was oblivious to the surprised look on her face. She sat down and looked at him with admiration.

"Most don't do that, either," she commented as Tim took his own seat opposite her.

"What? Oh." Tim looked nervous. "As I said, my parents raised me to be respectful." He offered her a half smile, which Toshiko returned.

There was more silence as the pair sipped their coffees, but this time, it was more companionable than awkward.

"So, what convention are you here for?" Toshiko asked, breaking the silence.

Tim had hoped she'd forgotten about that. He sighed. "If I tell you, promise you won't laugh . . ."

"I won't laugh," Toshiko nodded, sincerely.

Tim took a deep breath. Even his co-workers at NCIS didn't know he was here in Cardiff for a comic convention. "I, erm, it's kinda a, well, comic book thing," he mumbled.

Toshiko brightened. "Really? The one over in Greenplace Square?"

"Yeah, that one." Tim looked at the pretty woman in a new light. "You've heard of it?"

"Yeah," Toshiko nodded enthusiastically. "It sounds great. Some of my favourite authors are being featured." She looked downcast. "I wasn't able to get a ticket, though. Something, err, came up and I couldn't get one before they sold out. And anyway, chances are that I wouldn't have been able to go, work and all that. The end of the world actually comes around quite often," she joked, but in actual fact, the world's end did come about rather a lot.

Tim chuckled politely. "Tell me about it. It took a whole lotta convincing and postponing to finally get here. It's not as though the world is going to end this weekend."

"You never know," Toshiko grinned. "Perhaps our co-workers can't function without us and, oh, I don't know, decide to blow up the earth," she replied, knowing that the chances were that Torchwood may blow up the earth, inadvertently, of course.

"Perhaps." Tim shared her grin with a knowing look. He was quiet for a moment, and then said, "I may be able to get you a ticket, if you want."

Tim had failed to mention that he was one of the guest authors. He hadn't told anyone, but Thom E. Gemcity was trying to break the UK market and Lindy, his publicist, thought appearing at this convention would be good exposure. And who was Tim to refuse a free holiday to Cardiff and free entry to a convention he'd wanted to go to anyway.

"Really?" Toshiko looked both excited and apprehensive at the notion. She sipped her mocha.

"Well, yeah, I have connections," Tim replied cryptically. He didn't want to revel too much. After all, he'd only known Toshiko about twenty minutes. "I can at least try."

"That would be amazing," Toshiko said excitedly, her eyes sparkling, and Tim thought she looked even more gorgeous.

"I'll definitely see what I can do," Tim nodded, and noted to himself that he'd do whatever it took to get Toshiko a ticket.

Toshiko sighed in contentment and Tim grinned. It was rare to find someone like Toshiko so interested in comic book and general geeky concepts. It really would be pushing his luck, Tim thought, if she also liked computers.

"So, Toshiko, what do you do here in Cardiff?" Tim asked casually after they had taken a moment to savour some of their coffee.

"I, err, you see." Toshiko wasn't used to seeing people outside work, and honestly had no idea how to handle a question about her job. "I work for the government," she finally managed, though she knew Torchwood was outside the government. "With computers, you see. And technology."

"No way?" Tim breathed. It was as though someone had created the perfect woman for him. "Me too. I mean, I work for the government and with computers, also."

"Really?" Toshiko looked just as amazed as Tim did.

"Yep," Tim said proudly and added, "MIT and John Hopkins."

"Oh, I would have loved to have gone to MIT," Toshiko breathed, looking at Tim in awe. She shrugged. "But you know, circumstances and all."

"Yeah," Tim agreed and fell silent. He played with the rim of his coffee cup and sneaked a glance at Toshiko, not unlike a schoolboy.

She really was very pretty and held the same interests as him. It was almost as if fate had brought them together, as clichéd as it sounded. Tim wondered about giving her his phone number . . . Well, he'd have to if he was going to get her a convention ticket. He hoped he'd be able to see her again. There was just something about Toshiko that attracted Tim.

Toshiko, at that moment, caught Tim's eyes staring at her. He blushed profusely and diverted his eyes, like he'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Tim was about to make an apologetic comment, when Toshiko's phone rang.

"Sorry." She looked apologetic and a little annoyed as she picked up the phone. "Work," she sighed.

Tim watched her lower her voice and nod, murmuring a few words under her breath that Tim couldn't decipher. Toshiko nodded for a final time, then closed her phone.

"I'm sorry," she muttered, looking put out. "That was work. It seems the end of the world is happening on my shift." She grimaced. Toshiko stood and held out her hand. Tim followed suit.

"Thanks for the coffee," she smiled warmly at Tim as he took her hand, and again, lingered a little longer than would be called polite.

"It was nice to have the company," Tim nodded and then hastily added, taking a deep breath, "Would it be okay if I, uh, gave you my number," he rushed, looking shyly at Toshiko. "You know, for the ticket and all."

"I'd like that," Toshiko smiled, also shyly. "I'll put it in my phone." She pulled out her phone again.

"That's a nice model," Tim commented as Toshiko tapped away at the keypad.

"Thanks. It's the newest model," she said, looking up at him. "One of the perks of my job. Okay, your number . . ." Tim rattled off his number and Toshiko diligently tapped it into her phone.

She looked up from the screen and looked happily at Tim. "Thanks. Now, I'd better go or my boss will have my head." She smiled for the final time.

"Right, yes," Tim nodded. "I'll call you," he added, almost an afterthought.

"I'll look forward to it," Toshiko called as she started to move off. "Thanks again for the coffee."

"No problem," Tim replied. "It was nice meeting you."

"You too." Toshiko waved and disappeared into the crowd of people.

Tim sighed contently. He hadn't thought his holiday could get any better, but that was before he had met Toshiko. He smiled to himself as he pulled out his cell phone and dialled the familiar number.

"Lindy," Tim said down the phone, "it's Tim McGee. I was wondering if you'd be able to put me in touch with the convention organisers. I am hoping to get another ticket." He paused. "Oh, it's for this, erm, woman I met . . ."

_Finis_


End file.
